Stonehill College Student’s Lawsuit: Roommate Had ‘Disturbingly’ Open Sex Life

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — A college student from New York is suing Stonehill College in Massachusetts, a Catholic Liberal Arts College, saying her roommate’s sex life drove her into a suicidal depression and that the school did nothing to address her concerns.

The student, Lindsay Blankmeyer, alleges that her roommate, “Laura,” was “having online and actual sex right in front of her,” according to the court complaint.

“More disturbingly, Laura would have sex with her boyfriend while Lindsay was trying to sleep just a few feet away. Laura would also engage in sexually inappropriate video chatting when Lindsay was in the room,” the complaint read.

Blankmeyer suffered from depression and Attention Deficit Disorder when she enrolled at Stonehill in September of 2007. She said she wanted to see how she would perform in school “without any sort of additional help in the form of a reasonable accommodation.”

However, the complaint states that Blankmeyer began to incur issues because her roommate “often had overnight guests without asking [Blankmeyer’s] permission or even informing [her] that she would be having guests.”

The complaint also went on to say that Blankmeyer’s roommate would “stay up late with lights on,” keeping her awake. The complainant even claims that her roommate “began shaking her and yelling at her” while she was sleeping.

Blankmeyer eventually went to her resident assistant, detailing her “toxic environment” and “emotionally taxing…struggles.”

After the resident assistant apparently told Blankmeyer’s roommate, Laura, to provide advance notice of guests visiting the room and to “video chat in the common area,” according to the complaint.

Blankmeyer was given additional housing options, which did not meet her satisfaction. She and her parents asked if she could have her old dorm room back minus her roommate.

When that request was denied, they asked for a single room, but were told Blankmeyer “was not entitled to a reasonable accommodation of a single room.” In the weeks and months afterward, she fell into a “dark and suicidal depression requiring her to take a leave of absence from school.”

Blankmeyer eventually moved to a hotel, but left the “increasingly isolated environment.” She was eventually able to complete her final semester of school while home in New York.

The lawsuit against the school alleges Stonehill refused to grant Blankmeyer “reasonable accommodation of a single room.”

It alleges that the school violated the Rehabilitation Act, the federal Fair Housing Act Amendments and Massachusetts anti-discrimination laws.

Stonehill said it is taking the accusations seriously.

“We are reviewing the complaint, which focuses on a previous roommate issue. There are two sides, and sometimes more, to every story. We will be responding to the complaint,” said Martin McGovern, director of Communications and Media Relations at Stonehill College, in a statement.